Dr Rachel Genn
Is a senior lecturer at Manchester Writing School. Formerly a Neuroscientist, she held a Royal Society Fellowship at UBC, Canada and has written two novels: THE CURE, (2011) and WHAT YOU COULD HAVE WON (2020). She was Leverhulme Artist-in-Residence (2016) creating THE NATIONAL FACILITY FOR THE REGULATION OF REGRET. She has non-fiction in Granta, Los Angeles Review of Books, Aeon, and The New Statesman and is currently working on a collection of non-fiction, about her family’s injuries, fighting, and addiction to regret.
Debbie Ballin
Is a senior lecturer in SODA at Manchester Metropolitan University. Recent inter- disciplinary research projects include the Welcome Trust funded, UNDER AN ARTIFICIAL SUN, the collaborative exhibition ECHOES OF PROTEST with Professor Esther Johnson and a first novel, THE FENCE. Her work as a producer and director in the independent film sector has been BAFTA nominated, broadcast in Europe, Canada and the US, and exhibited internationally.
Nick Bax
Human Studio
Nick's career spans over 30 years in the fields of visual communication and art. He was part of the eminent collective The Designers Republic for 15 years and helped establish the studio as one of the most influential creative teams in the world before launching the creative agency Human in 2007. Nick is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and the Higher Education Authority (FHEA) and a visiting lecturer in design and visual communication. In addition to his role at Human, Nick is currently an XR Stories Research Fellow at the University of York.
Abby Hambleton
Human Studio
Since joining Human in 2014, Abby has led and contributed to numerous design projects, exhibitions and events in the UK, Europe, USA and Japan. She has overseen the production of visual and immersive material for various collaborative live performances with musicians, academics and fellow creatives. Abby is currently leading Human’s work on the UK-China project ‘Bridging the gaps: mixed reality traditional Chinese opera in rural and urban Shanghai heritage sites’ (AHRC) with the University of Leeds and partners in Shanghai.